Fall transition

[TheChief]

At this time of year on Lake Mead where are the largemouth and smallmouth bass?Are they feeding more aggressively before moving off to deeper water? Are they feeding later in the day after the sun warms things up? I used to get a few in the mornings and evenings in the coves around #33 hole but this year has been really tough.
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[TheWhizzle]

It's getting cooler out, and the bass are fairly shallow right now. I have found smallies on points. Try to find transition areas where one type of rock runs into another (ie: Sand bank suddenly turns to rock, or gravel next to chunk rock). If you find a transition area that happens to have a point at the transition line, you are in the money.

Topwater plugs, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, drop-shot rigs and football jigs are all going to work well. Just cover lots of water, make looong casts, and keep your line as light as you can get away with. 6 or 8 pound fluorocarbon on your spinning rig for drop shots.
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[TheChief]

Thanks,Whizzle
I got out Sat. from about 3 p.m. until dark at #33 hole area. I fished the windblown side of a cove at first and got some LMB and stripers mixed on a gold Kastmaster.Went to the other side as the sun was setting and a quick boil started...lasted maybe 10 minutes. I switched to a bone colored spook and got more stripers than LMB,nothing big but had a blast with the topwater thing.I caught fish on 4 consecutive casts but nothing of size.A couple of boats and kayakers were drifting just out of my reach and got less in numbers but a few bigger fish,maybe 2 1/2# was the biggest.When I'm working the banks I'm finding the little guys but not the bigger fish.I'm guessing they're in deeper water than I can reach. Anyway,thanks for all of the advice... I'll keep working on finding the bigger ones.
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[TheChief]

I got out on Wed from about 2 - 5 p.m. at #33 and got about a dozen LMB and stripers mixed from the windblown side of a little cove.The ranger station had the water temp at 63 .All fish were caught on a gold kastmaster... they wouldn't take anything else.
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[tubeN2]

Fall is the season for big baits. LMB and Stripers are on the chew as Whizzle has stated. Bigger baits means less bites but better quality fish.

Would you rather catch 100 dinks or a dozen trophies? Go figure.

I have a few buddies that leave Havasu and Mead behind and come to my stomping grounds of Castaic lake. The LMB run big and people are dying to get in the 50lb club.

It boils down to 8 and 10 inch swimbaits.

Since they work here so well, I also know they work there as I fish all over the US and the seasons change but the fish follow the same patterns.[cool]
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[TheChief]

I'd definitely like to get into bigger fish so I'll start using bigger baits.Tell me if I'm wrong,but I've read that the stripers like cooler water so I should be able to find them chasing shad in the coves and sometimes in deeper water.The LMB like warmer water and should be shallow in the coves where the sun warms the water quicker.Would mornings be a bettet time for stripers and then LMB later in the day? Also,should I concentrate on the coves or should I try further out into the main lake once I find the smaller fish? Thanks for your response!
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[tubeN2]

If you are on lake Mead, I can almost assume that you have a boat and launch out of Echo.

You should be able to get a water temp reading on your fish finder which will tell you the surface water tems. If you are familiar with the thermocline scale then you will know and understand the gradient differences from the top 18 inches of water compared to that which is below the 24", 12 foot and 50 foot marks.

The fish will chose their own time and schedule. We typically think that we can only get a certain fish because of warmth at a certain depth or cold due to the time of day.

It doesn't always work that way and the warmer water can sometimes be just a little deeper than what you measure on the top or vice versa.

LMB will bite when they are hungry. Colder water temps only slow them down but do not deter their appetite. They will just go for a bait that is easier to get than chasing it all over.........Slow down your presentation in this case. Speed up in warm water.

Stripers seem to be more favorable around points or entrances to coves. (That is the pattern that the Shad or other bait fish will run when entering the coves. 10 to 14 feet of water is the ideal depth when fishing points.

When your state is planting Trout, remember to throw your 8, 10 and 12 inch trout swim baits. The Stripers will be on that like white on rice. That is the way we get the 50lb class Stripers at Castaic. Anything 20lbs and over will at least hit the 8inch bait. The bigger ones will handle the bigger baits.

Those baits need to get down to the 15 to 20 foot mark for better results. Morning or afternoon is not as important.

Believe it or not, look at the tide reports for the closest parralel to where you are. Lake Mead tends to line up with Morro Bay in CA. High tide is the prime time for Stripers. Low tide seems to work better for LMB. You can get tide reports online.

I had one in my sig file but it no longer works.

Give the tide chart a shot along with the bigger baits and controlled depths.
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[TheWhizzle]

Interesting concept to use tide charts for landlocked lakes. No reason in my mind why that wouldn't work. The lake is big enough to have tidal pull, even if it is minor.

I like the idea. Gonna test this one.
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[tubeN2]

Hey bro. You will notice that the tide charts follow the Solar/Lunar charts and are directly connected with those fishing calculators that one can purchase.

Even the anglers watches that allert you as to the "Good" fishing time as well as the "Best" fishing times are coincidal with the tides.

The tides are regulated by the position of the moon. The moon causes the gravitational differences on all bodies of water throughout the US. [cool]
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[wolfs4evr]

Port San Luis, CA is the nearest tidal reporting station that I could find to Morrow Bay in the Navionics Boating USA App. +/- 20 miles south of Morrow Bay.

Today's high tide is 8am/low tide is 2pm.

Tom
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[tubeN2]

That should be helpful. Compare that time chart with a local chart in your area that indicates good and best times for fishing. You will see that it coincides as well with the solor/lunar calandars.

I use this information in many areas around the world where I have fished. It is about 95% accurate to within 30 minutes or so. [cool]
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[TT600]

No more trout stocking at Mead. I wish we could get some stocked in Powell.
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[tubeN2]

Trout would be awesome in there but I'm not sure they would last since they aready have 2 major predator fish in there. Pike and Walleye. [pirate]
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[TT600]

Trout above a few lbs can survive in Powell. Below that they are striper food. But it would create a nice trophy winter fishery around Wahweap.
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[albinotrout]

Expensive proposition. Very expensive to raise the fish to a size where they wouldn't become striper food.
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[tubeN2]

They would have to plant them at 5lb or larger. That's the only way to guarantee that a few would survive.
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[Greg84]

They don't have to farm them that long, the Willow hatchery has a "very successful" taxpayer funded predator avoidance education program for the fish they raise. They teach them to be friendly with nice fish like carp and hide from mean stripers.
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